Provides an introduction to the field, observation, and child study skills. Service learning experiences in childcare settings, elementary schools, and other educational contexts in urban communities are included. Cities Perspectives Course.

ECE 3021

Child Development

Credit Hours

3.0

Prerequisites

Admitted into Teacher Education

Requirements

A minimum grade of C is required for this course

Description

Focuses on physical, cognitive, and affective stages of human growth and development. Introduces theories and models of behavior and development applied to the field of early childhood education. Field experiences in pre-kindergarten through fifth-grade classrooms are included.

ECE 3250

English to Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL): Language Acquisition and Assessment

Credit Hours

3.0

Prerequisites

Admitted into Teacher Education

Description

Principles of first and second language learning and teaching are examined. An emphasis on the analysis of language structure as it applies to second language acquisition is a core component of this course. Appropriate assessment of language proficiency is examined in addition to ESOL program entrance and exit criteria. Students have continuous supervised field placements in ESOL classrooms as well as in non-ESOL classrooms with significant culturally and linguistically diverse student populations.

ECE 3255

English to Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL):Cultural Foundations-CTW

Credit Hours

3.0

Prerequisites

Admitted into Teacher Education

Description

The purpose of this course is to introduce future educators with the knowledge and skills needed to provide an effective learning environment for students who are learning English as an additional language. Course participants explore issues related to the intercultural communication process. The importance of the role of context (social, cultural, and historical) in interculture interactions is considered. Students have continuous supervised field placement in ESOL classrooms as well as in non-ESOL classrooms with significant culturally and linguistically diverse student populations. Critical Thinking Through Writing Course (CTW). Global Perspectives Course.

ECE 3360

Assessment of Classroom Learning in Early Childhood Education

Credit Hours

3.0

Prerequisites

Admitted into Teacher Education

Requirements

Students must complete the course with a grade of C or higher

Description

Students examine various teacher-constructed and standardized instruments used to assess student learning. Strategies for selecting and using assessment methods are emphasized. The role of instructional assessment as it relates to teaching and learning are discussed. Field experience in K-5th grades is included.

ECE 3390

Teacher as Responsible Practitioner in the 21st Century-CTW

Credit Hours

3.0

Prerequisites

Admitted to Teacher Education

Description

Provides the student with structured processes for examining the roles and responsibilities of professional educators within 21st century contexts through systematic and reflective connections between cross-program content; field experiences; and local, national, and global educational influences. A minimum grade of C is required for this course. Critical Thinking Through Writing Course (CTW).

ECE 3400

Reading Methods in Elementary Education

Credit Hours

3.0

Prerequisites

Admitted to Teacher Education and ECE 3600 with a grade of C or higher

Requirements

A minimum grade of C is required for this course

Description

Provides students with core knowledge about reading methods within the broader context of all the language arts, including the development of reading during elementary years, theories relevant to learning to read, and the effectiveness of teaching skills that contribute to the development of reading. Field experiences in first-third grade are included.

ECE 3440

English to Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL): Curriculum and Instruction

Credit Hours

3.0

Prerequisites

Admitted into Teacher Education

Description

Students examine current research, materials, curricula, and teaching methodologies in the area of ESOL instruction. Classroom application and observation are emphasized. Students have continuous supervised field placements in ESOL classrooms as well as in non-ESOL classrooms with significant culturally and linguistically diverse student population. Global Perspectives Course.

ECE 3500

Social-Emotional Development from Infancy to Middle Childhood

Credit Hours

3.0

Description

This course examines children’s social-emotional development from infancy to middle childhood. Attention is given to children’s early emotional development and how it relates to social functioning within family, school and community contexts. Special attention is given to biological and environmental factors that impact children’s early social-emotional well-being and ways that teachers, caregivers, and other adults can encourage healthy development.

ECE 3550

Children’s Literature in the 21st Century

Credit Hours

3.0

Description

The class will explore what it means to appreciate the art of children’s literature in traditional and digital texts. Students will read and discuss texts written for children. The texts could include story apps, graphic novels, new media fiction, interactive narratives, and video games. We will explore and respond to many aspects of children’s literature as an aesthetic object and learn about how children construct literary meanings.

ECE 3560

Media and Children’s Learning

Credit Hours

3.0

Description

This course focuses on how children are portrayed in the media (including film, television, print, corporate marketing, and online).

ECE 3600

Language and Literacy Inquiry

Credit Hours

3.0

Prerequisites

Admitted into Teacher Education

Requirements

A minimum grade of C is required for this course

Description

Emphasis on the language development of the young child along with strategies to promote emergent literacy through literature experiences. Includes field experience in a pre-kindergarten through fifth-grade classroom.

ECE 3601

Understanding Literacy Learning in Early Childhood and Elementary Education-CTW

Credit Hours

6.0

Prerequisites

Admitted into Teacher Education and ECE 3600 with a grade of C or higher

Provides the student with an integrated study of the theory, methodology, and instructional materials in the areas of language development, oral and written language skills, reading, and children’s literature. Field experiences in kindergarten through second-grade classrooms are included. This course is a Critical Thinking Through Writing Course (CTW).

ECE 3602

Writing and Composing in the Digital Age

Credit Hours

3.0

Prerequisites

Admitted into Teacher Education and ECE 3600 with a grade of C or higher

Requirements

A minimum grade of C is required for this course

Description

Focus is on composing as both a print and digital practice with an emphasis on digital composition across the curriculum. A variety of methods of instruction and assessment are explored. Field experiences in third-grade through fifth-grade classrooms are included.

Candidates will develop their mathematical content knowledge and gain understanding about children as learners of mathematics. Candidates will also learn about effective instructional methods for the mathematics content spanning the elementary primary grades curricula. This is a field-based course where candidates apply learned skills in the context of culturally diverse elementary school classrooms.

Description: Candidates will develop their mathematical content knowledge and gain understanding about children as learners of mathematics. Candidates will also learn about effective instructional methods for the mathematics content spanning elementary upper grades curricula. This is a field-based course where candidates apply learned skills in the context of culturally diverse elementary school classrooms.

ECE 3605

Social Studies Methods in Early Childhood Education

Credit Hours

3.0

Prerequisites

Admitted into Teacher Education

Requirements

A minimum grade of C is required for this course

Description

Students examine objectives of various social studies programs and learn to use methods and materials appropriate for young children to accomplish these objectives. Field experiences in kindergarten through second-grade classrooms are included.

ECE 3606

Science and Inquiry in Early Childhood Education

Credit Hours

3.0

Prerequisites

Admitted into Teacher Education

Requirements

A minimum grade of C is required for this course

Description

Students examine objectives of various science programs and learn to use methods and materials appropriate for young children to accomplish these objectives. Field experiences in third-grade through fifth-grade classrooms are included.

Pre-service teachers develop dispositions to become responsive educators for all learners. Teacher candidates participate in field experiences that provide the opportunity to learn and demonstrate dispositions, such as, care, respect, fairness, warmth, and trust in early childhood and elementary classrooms.

ECE 3662

Classroom Management and Practicum II: Transforming Observations of Children into Practice

Credit Hours

3.0

Prerequisites

Admitted into Teacher Education and ECE 3661 with a grade of C or higher

Requirements

A minimum grade of C is required for this course

Description

Pre-service teachers learn to observe children systematically. Teacher candidates participate in field experiences where their emerging knowledge and understanding of children lead to their creation of responsive spaces for each child they serve. This course is focused on the cultivation of positive classroom communities honoring all learners.

Admitted to Teacher Education and ECE 3662 with a grade of C or higher

Requirements

A minimum grade of B is required for this course

Description

Pre-service teachers learn to acknowledge and demonstrate their understanding of the complexity inherent in the interrelated systems of the classroom, school, family, and community in which the children and teacher grow and develop. Teacher candidates engage in field experiences in early childhood and elementary classrooms where they use evidence-based strategies appropriate for all learners.

ECE 4500

Guided Inquiry into Educational Advocacy

Credit Hours

3.0

Description

Through this hybrid elective course, candidates will have opportunities to explore areas of interest pertaining to issues that affect children, candidates, schools, curriculum, policy, families, and stakeholders relevant to education writ large. This course is largely self-driven and monitored as candidates are given a measure of autonomy, intellectual freedom, and idiosyncratic options for expressing understandings gained pertaining to the issue(s) selected for study. Key goals of the course intend that candidates: a) Develop tools for informing themselves on critical issues of particular interest or concern. b) Acquire strategies for reaching out to particular stakeholders who are positioned to best act upon those issues. c) Share, publish, and/or disseminate resources for stakeholders and/or colleagues, thereby establishing or strengthening informed communities of activism. d) Develop expertise that will position themselves well in future endeavors impacting the lives of candidates, families, classrooms, and/or communities within and around schools. ECE 4500 will be cross-listed with ECE 7500.

ECE 4650

Opening School Experience

Credit Hours

0.0 - 1.0

Prerequisites

Admitted to Teacher Education

Requirements

Course is graded as satisfactory/unsatisfactory

Description

A minimum grade of S is required for this course. Students gain practical experiences in the school and classroom during the week of preplanning and the first week of school. While assisting in the classroom, students learn effective procedures for beginning the school year. This course may include a Signature Experience component.

ECE 4661

Student Teaching

Credit Hours

9.0

Prerequisites

Admitted to Teacher Education and EXC 4570 with a grade of B or higher

Requirements

Students must submit a portfolio for approval

Description

A minimum grade of C is required for this course. Students participate in a capstone practicum in one of the following grade levels: kindergarten, first, second, third, fourth, or fifth. This internship emphasizes the integration of developmental, curricular, and instructional principles in all areas of the curriculum. This course may include a Signature Experience component.

ECE 4662

Student Teaching

Credit Hours

12.0

Prerequisites

Admitted to Teacher Education and ECE 3663 with a grade of B or higher

Requirements

Students must submit a portfolio for approval

Description

A minimum grade of C is required for this course. Students participate in a capstone practicum in one of the following grade levels: kindergarten, first, second, third, fourth, or fifth. This internship emphasizes the integration of developmental, curricular, and instructional principles in all areas of the curriculum. This course may include a Signature Experience component.

ECE 4700

Issues in International Education

Credit Hours

3.0

Description

The course is designed to increase students’ knowledge and awareness of social, economic, and political issues related to international education. Students will also examine and compare policies and practices of educational systems in various countries in the world. The course is presented and studied online. It comprises twelve units on international educational issues such as citizenship, culturalism, and multiculturalism equality and Education, inclusion and norms, values and beliefs. Each unit provides an overview of the issues associated with the topic as well as materials that outline those issues. Student/activities/projects require the gathering of data from a variety of sources, synthesizing those data and presenting a summary. Global Perspectives Course. This course may include a Signature Experience component.

ECE 4810

Directed Reading in Early Childhood Education

Credit Hours

1.0 - 3.0

Prerequisites

consent of instructor

Requirements

A directed reading form, available in the Department of Early Childhood Education, must be completed and signed by the instructor prior to registration

Description

Focuses on individual reading on special topics in early childhood education. These topics are an extension of a previously completed course and are taught by an instructor who has taught that course. (Repeatable) .